The protesters accused Knight of voting for "amnesty" and
referenced the recent Homeland Security funding debate.
Conservatives insisted the annual legislation to provide money
for the agency include provisions undermining President Barack
Obama's executive actions that shielded millions from
deportation.

However, after Senate Democrats successfully filibustered the
bill going after Obama's executive orders, House Republicans,
including Knight, relented and passed a so-called clean funding
bill that did not block the president's executive orders. In his
conversation with the protesters, Knight insisted he never voted
to support Obama's immigration policy.

"I never voted for amnesty. Never, ever," he told them.

Knight's office told Business Insider that the congressman was on
a plane and would be able to provide comment on the incident
later.

Update (6:42 p.m.):Knight's office provided
the following statement from the congressman.

"I have dealt with this group on several occasions and every
time they try to escalate our conversations to a level that is
not constructive," Knight said. "Over this past weekend, I lost
my cool and I regret responding the way I did."